The Difference Between Courage and Cowardice

--> I’ve spend my adult life in the profession of arms.  I was not in the direct line of enemy fire as so many have been, but then I was not always behind a desk, pushing papers from the in-basket to the out-basket either.  When I was called on to put the needs of the nation before my personal safety I did not hesitate.  I say this not to imply I was courageous, or heroic, but rather to explain it was my job, I had trained for such a potential and was confident in my abilities and the abilities of those who I flew with.  We were the right people for the mission, with the best tools and skills available.  To a man. none of us considered not going.

This same attitude is true for almost all the men and woman who accept the responsibility of military service.  They may not understand this on their first days, but as they learn to perform their jobs, they grow to trust their friends, and if necessary they accept the risk incumbent in their mission.  Hopefully the officers, and senior non-commissioned officers, they follow will be equally well prepared, and up to the responsibilities they have for the care of the lives they lead.

As I watch our society evolve I am struck by how little the average young person understands the thin line between courage and cowardice.  For it is a thin line between standing firm and bending to the popular positions, withholding your opinion until you have the full story or jumping on board with a riotous mob, between condemning the dead when it serves only to satisfy a personal agenda and moving on to more important issues.

Should we accept the words of people who lack the courage to be honest when it counts, or who defend their morally bankrupt positions because it is the politically expedient thing to do? 

I was reminded just today that Facebook is a vehicle where those who think themselves safe behind some anonymous profile can spew forth hate and vile they would unlikely have the courage to do face to face, where the consequences would be immediate.  These people are not courageous at all, in fact they are just the opposite.

American Sniper (a few thoughts)

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I’ve listened to the criticism from individuals I have no use for.  Individuals who serve no purpose other than to condemn the United States while they make themselves rich from its largess.  They condemn what they don’t understand, for their lives are small and filled only with distain for those who do not share their same petty views.

Today my wife and I enjoyed the movie “American Sniper” a magnificent memorial to Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle, produced and directed by American legend Clint Eastwood.  It was a dramatic testament to conflict that celebrates his combat, but understates the psychological conflict that so many veterans must fight if they are to survive in life, and the flaws that make an individual human.  I certainly understand the compromises a movie must make in the telling of a story; perhaps someday we will better understand those inner battles.

Through my career I was privileged to work with, and support, America’s elite warriors. These are men who had courage far beyond mine, men who placed themselves as shields to protect the weak and the helpless.   As a nation we’ve always had those that stood ready to risk all for a good far greater than the average person can understand, and for that same time we’ve had small and petty opportunist’s to condemn them, seeking their own personal gain.

For those who’ve been lucky enough not to know war first hand, and I count myself in that group, we can never appreciate what separates men like Kyle from the average, or what holds them together when the carnage ends.  There was a Navy Commander I worked with once, he was also a SEAL, and he carried with him the scares of a failed operation as part of our rescue in Granada.  We talked once about that operation and the courage of his team as they went into the Op.  His humility about his role, and the courage behind that humility was for me awe-inspiring.

Each morning I watch as the next generation of courageous young men and woman are shaped into warriors who will pick up the shield of defense.  I pray that those voters who will never  make the life or death decisions these warriors will, have the courage to elect leaders who honor their courage and realize the cost to the nation when they throw these young people away as a cost of doing business, or because their lives mean so little when compared to political aspirations.